According to Combs’ former bodyguard Gene Deal, Combs threatened to “pimp out” female musicians on his roster.
At the height of his career, Combs operated as the founder and CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment and the executive producer of MTV’s “Making the Band,” a reality show about scouting and assembling a new hip-hop group.
Combs hand-selected the members, who were then signed to Bad Boy Records as Bad Boy’s Da Band.
One of those members, Sara Rivers, is interviewed in the doc about Combs’ behavior behind the scenes.
“When he got angry with one of my bandmembers, he said, ‘You make me so mad I wanna eat your flesh,'” she tells the camera. “And then he said to another one of your bandmembers, he said, ‘You’re rolling your eyes. You know, I could go get a crackhead and pay them $20 to smack the shit out of you.’ Who says that? That’s crazy.”
Rivers also accuses Combs of touching her inappropriately when they were alone together.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to be around him unless there was cameras,” Rivers says, adding that she felt “intimidated” by Combs.
Gene Deal, Combs’ bodyguard from 1991 to 2005, also remembers Combs making threats about his female employees.
“We’re in the studio. You know, he had said some stuff about the band,” Deal recalls. “And Puff said, ‘They gonna keep fucking around with me, and I’m gonna drug their ass out and pimp ’em out to my n*****.'”
“And I said, ‘N****, those are somebody’s daughters,” Deal adds. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Deal recounted that same incident in November 2023 during an interview on “The Art of Dialogue” podcast, though he was referring to Danity Kane, the R&B girl group that was formed by Combs in 2005.
“They’re probably gonna go after him,” Deal said of the bandmembers.
Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard sued Combs in September 2024, accusing him of assault, sexual assault and harassment, sexual battery, and false imprisonment.
Combs’ attorney, Erica Wolff, responded to Richard’s lawsuit in a public statement: “Mr. Combs is shocked and disappointed by this lawsuit. In an attempt to rewrite history, Dawn Richard has now manufactured a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court.”
Another former Danity Kane member, Aubrey O’Day, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that she felt “validated” after Combs was arrested.
“The purpose of Justice is to provide an ending and allow us the space to create a new chapter,” O’Day wrote. “Today is a win for women all over the world, not just me. Things are finally changing.”
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